Title VI Policy

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of a disability. The Fullington Auto Bus Co. (Fullington) shall not exclude an individual with a disability from participating in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, activities, transit system or a facility. FULLINGTON will not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. Any person who believes that they have been discriminated against, or denied access to our services, programs, activities, transit system or facilities because of their disability may submit a complaint directly to FULLINGTON.

A written complaint should be made within 30 calendar days of the alleged incident to facilitate a prompt investigation and resolution. The written complaint should be as specific as possible and include the date the incident occurred, names of individuals involved, the facility, programs, services or activities involved, the nature of the problem and a proposed resolution. Include your full name, contact information and best method to reach you.

Mail or email the complaint to:

ADA Coordinator
The Fullington Auto Bus Co.
C/O Human Resource Department
316 E. Cherry Street
P.O. Box 211
Clearfield, PA 16830

Phone (814) 355-4900
humanresources@fullingtontours.com

If you need an alternative method to provide your complaint, you may contact the ADA Coordinator and either provide a verbal complaint or request information in accessible formats to be able to submit your complaint.

Within 10 days after receipt of the complaint, the ADA Coordinator will contact the complainant, by mail, email, telephone or video conference, to discuss the complaint and to find a resolution. Within 30 calendar days of the discussion, the ADA Coordinator will provide a written explanation on the outcome of the complaint. A summary of the complaint and its closure will be kept for five years.

If the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome, the complainant may appeal the decision, within 45 days to New York State Department of Transportation (see below).

As an alternative to filing an ADA complaint directly with FULLINGTON, a complaint may be submitted directly to:

Questions concerning this policy and procedures may be directed to FULLINGTON, Program Director at (814) 355-4900 or at humanresources@fullingtontours.com.

Note: The purpose of this limited English proficiency policy guidance is to clarify the responsibilities of recipients of federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and assist them in fulfilling their responsibilities to limited English proficient (LEP) persons, pursuant to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 andimplementing regulations. It was prepared in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C.2000d, et seq., and its implementing regulations provide that no person shall be subjected to discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin under any program or activity that receives federal financial assistance.

Executive Order 13166 “Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency,”reprinted at 65 FR 50121 (August 16, 2000), directs each Federal agency that is subject to therequirements of Title VI to publish guidance for its respective recipients clarifying that obligation.Executive Order 13166 further directs that all such guidance documents be consistent with thecompliance standards and framework detailed in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Policy Guidanceentitled “Enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964-National Origin Discrimination againstPersons with Limited English Proficiency.” (See 65 FR 50123, August 16, 2000 DOJ’s General LEPGuidance). Different treatment based upon a person’s inability to speak, read, write, or understandEnglish may be a type of national origin discrimination. Executive Order 13166 applies to all federalagencies and all programs and operations of entities that receive funding from the federalgovernment, including state agencies, local agencies and governments, private and non-profit entities,and sub recipients.

Fullington has developed this Limited English Proficiency Plan (LEP) to help identify reasonable steps to provide language assistance for LEP persons seeking meaningful access to Fullington services as required by Executive Order 13166. A Limited English Proficiency person is one who does not speak English as their primary language and who has a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand English. This plan details procedures on how to identify a person who may need language assistance, the ways in which assistance may be provided, training staff, how to notify LEP persons assistance is available, and information for future plan updates. In developing the plan while determining Fullington’s extent of obligation to provide LEP services, Fullington conducted a U.S. Department of Transportation Four Factor LEP analysis which considers the following: 1) The number or proportion of LEP persons eligible in Fullington service area who may be served or likely to encounter Fullington provided service; 2) the frequency with which LEP individuals come in contact with Fullington services; 3) the nature and importance of the program, activity or service provided by Fullington to the LEP population; and 4) the resources available to Fullington and overall costs to provide LEP assistance. A brief description of these considerations is provided in the following section.

1. The number or proportion of LEP persons eligible in The Fullington Auto Bus Company service area who may be served or likely to encounter The Fullington Auto Bus Company service.

Example: Fullington examined the US Census report from 2020, and, using data from Census tracts in the Fullington service area was able to determine that approximately 96.1% of people within Fullington’s service area age 5 and older spoke English as the primary or only language. Approximately 3.9% or 517 speak a language other than English.

2. The frequency with which LEP individuals come in contact with a CATA program, activity, or service.

Fullington assesses the frequency at which staff and drivers have or could possibly have contact with LEP persons. This includes documenting phone inquiries and surveying drivers and customer service personnel. Fullington has had no requests for interpreters and zero requests for translated Fullington documents. The Fullington staff and drivers have had very little to no contact with LEP individuals.

3. The nature and importance of the program, activity, or service provided by the Fullington to LEP community.

Example: There is no large geographic concentration of any one type of LEP individuals in the Fullington service area. The overwhelming majority of the populations, 96.1% of residents speak English. Therefore, for the most part, LEP individuals do not use Fullington’s services. However, international students from The Pennsylvania University do use Fullington’s fixed-route system. While none of these students have ever required language assistance, and do speak English very well, Fullington’s services are very important to these individuals in order to provide access to shopping and leisure activities outside of The Pennsylvania University Campus.

4. Resources available to Fullington and overall costs.

Example: There is no large geographic concentration of any one type of LEP individuals in the Fullington service area. The overwhelming majority of the populations, 96.1% of residents speak English. Therefore, for the most part, LEP individuals do not use Fullington’s services. However, international students from The Pennsylvania University do use Fullington’s fixed-route system. While none of these students have ever required language assistance, and do speak English very well, Fullington’s services are very important to these individuals in order to provide access to shopping and leisure activities outside of The Pennsylvania University Campus.

Below are tools to help identify persons who may need language assistance:

• Examine records requests for language assistance from past meetings and events toanticipate the possible need for assistance at upcoming meetings;
• When Fullington sponsored meetings are held, set up a sign-in sheet table, have astaff member greet and briefly speak to each To informally gauge the attendee’sability to speak and understand English, ask a question that requires a full sentence reply;
• Survey drivers and other first line staff on an annual basis at the beginning of each fiscal year regarding their experience on having any direct or indirect contact with LEP

Fullington has or will implement the following LEP procedures. The creation of these steps are based on the very low percentage of persons speaking other languages or not speaking English at least “well,” and the lack of resources available in the Fullington service area:

• Resources are available at googletranslate.com as well as jeenie.com

All Fullington staff will be made available a copy of the LEP Plan and will be educated on procedures to follow. This information will also be part of the Fullington staff orientation process for new hires. Training topics are listed below:

• Understanding the Title VI policy and LEP responsibilities;
• Documentation of language assistance requests;
• How to handle a Title VI and/or LEP complaint

Fullington does not have a formal practice of outreach techniques due to the lack of LEP population and resources available in the serve area. However, the following are options Fullington will incorporate when and/or if the need arises for LEP outreach:

• If staff knows that they will be presenting a topic that could be of potential importance to an LEP person or if staff will be hosting a meeting or a workshop in a geographic location with a known concentration of LEP persons, meeting notices, fliers, advertisements, and agendas will be printed in an alternative language, based on known LEP population in the area.
• Key print materials will be translated and made available at The Fullington Auto Bus Company Administration Facility and in communities when a specific and concentrated LEP population is identified

This plan is designed to be flexible and is one that can be easily updated. At a minimum, Fullington will follow the Title VI Program update schedule for the LEP Plan.

Each update should examine all plan components such as:

• How many LEP persons were encountered?
• Were their needs met?
• What is the current LEP population in The Fullington Auto Bus Company service area?
• Has there been a change in the types of languages where translation services are needed?
• Is there still a need for continued language assistance for previously identified Fullington routes? Are there other programs that should be included?
• Has Fullington’s available resources, such as technology, staff, and financial costs changed?
• Has Fullington fulfilled the goals of the LEP Plan?
• Were any complaints received?

As part of the monitoring and update plan, Fullington will track the activity of usage of its services by LEP persons and requests for assistance from Customer Service and Operator staff, and record information from passenger surveys which will identify the language spoken by passengers and their need for assistance. Fullington will also maintain communication with municipalities in its service area to identify LEP individuals who may have moved into a part of The Fullington Auto Bus Company’s service area and may require assistance. These municipalities will also be instructed to contact Fullington with any requests that they may receive for language assistance.

Fullington includes the LEP plan on Fullington’s website (www.fullingtontours.com) together with its Title VI Policy and Complaint Procedures. Fullington’s Notice of Rights under Title VI to the public is available in Fullington’s Administration facility lobby area.

Any person, including social service, non-profit, and law enforcement agencies, along with other community partners with Internet access will be able to access the plan.

Copies of the LEP Plan will be provided upon request. LEP persons may obtain copies/translations of the plan upon request.

Any questions or comments regarding this plan should be directed to Fullington’s Human Resources Department

The Fullington Auto Bus Company
316 E Cherry St, P.O. Box 211
Clearfield, PA., 16830
Phone: (814) 355-4900
Fax: (814) 355-4949
Email: humanresources@fullingtontours.com

It is the intent of Fullington to ensure full compliance with Title VI Regulations. The information below has been reviewed and adopted as policy by the Fullington Board of Directors.

Fullington has a minimum standard on all fixed route vehicles to include priority seating for senior citizens and persons with disabilities. All fixed route vehicles purchased will include a minimum of one surveillance camera per vehicle. All fixed route vehicles will maintain an area inside the vehicle for bus schedules.

Fullington will ensure all of Fullington owned bus shelters maintain an area for printed materials such as bus schedules and include covered passenger waiting areas. At the current time, Fullington does not own any bus shelters within our service area.

Bus shelters are currently placed by private business to encourage transit ridership at their locations. Currently there are no locations with bus shelters at locations of private businesses. Currently there are no locations of bus shelters at locations of public or low-income housing.

If Fullington purchases bus shelter locations in the future, locations for shelters will be identified by reviewing areas of high concentrations of transit-dependent riders for shelters in residential areas and Fullington will review areas of high employment/retail concentrations for bus shelters in commercial areas. All bus shelters owned by Fullington would include covered waiting areas with seating and covered areas for wheelchair access. Trash receptacles will be maintained at all of the Fullington-owned bus shelters.

Fullington Trailways LLC. (Fullington) is committed to providing nondiscriminatory transportation services to all of its passengers and potential passengers. Fullington prohibits discrimination in all of its programs and services on the basis of race, color, or national origin.

Any person who is or seeks to be a patron of any Fullington public vehicle shall be given the same access, seating and other treatment with regard to the use of such vehicle as other persons without regard to their race, color, or national origin.

No person or group of people shall be discriminated against with regard to the routing, scheduling or quality of transportation services provided by Fullington based on race, color, or national origin.

Any person who believes that they have, individually or as a member of any specific class of persons, been subjected to discrimination based on race, color, or national origin may file a complaint with Fullington. A written complaint must be filed with 180 days after the date of the alleged discrimination. All complaints should be signed and include contact information. Complaints can be made by contacting the Human Resources Department, 316 E Cherry St., P.O. Box 211, Clearfield, PA 16830. You may also file a complaint by calling 814-355-4900 Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Complaints may also be filed with the Federal Transit Administrations Office of Civil Rights no later than 180 days after the date of the alleged discrimination. You may send your written complaint to 1760 Market Street, Suite 510, Philadelphia, PA 19103-4124. You may also file a complaint by calling (215) 656-7070.

Any person who would like additional information on nondiscrimination requirements should call the Fullington Trailways’ office at (814) 355-4900 Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. to make a request. Information will be mailed by Fullington to the person making the request after the person provides Fullington with a mailing address.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) requires that all fixed route public transit providers develop quantitative standards for the following indicators that are applicable specifically to the transit provider’s system. They apply agency-wide rather than industry-wide.

Vehicle load can be expressed as a ratio of passengers to the number of seats on a vehicle, relative to the vehicle’s maximum load point.

Fullington Trailways, LLC. (Fullington) will strive to have vehicle loads not exceed the vehicles’ achievable capacities, which can range from 28-58 seats per standard coach allowing us to meet all mandated requirements. Fullington does not allow passengers to stand for safety reasons.

Vehicle headway is the amount of time between two vehicles traveling in the same direction on a given line or combination of lines. Vehicle headways are measured in minutes; service frequency is measured in vehicles per hour. Headways and frequency of service are general indications of service provided along a route.

Fullington’s fixed route vehicle headways vary according to number of passengers who purchase tickets for a particular schedule, which dictates the number of coaches required to service the passengers. This applies to both peak and off-peak service.

Fullington rarely if ever has more than one motor coach on a single route on a daily basis therefore vehicle headway/service frequency measures are not applicable.

On-time performance is a measure of runs completed as scheduled.

Below are Fullington’s performance standards for all fixed routes:

On-Time Departures:
Fullington’s goal is that all buses on fixed route service shall depart no more than 10 minutes late from any scheduled and published departure time. Fullington shall strive to meet a minimum of 90% of bus departures within zero to 5 minutes after published or scheduled times.

Operating Ahead of Schedule:
No bus shall depart a designated time point prior to its scheduled departure time.

Missed Trips:
Fullington shall complete 100% of all scheduled trips to the extent reasonably possible.

Failure to Pick up Passenger:
Fullington shall not fail to pick up any properly ticketed passenger waiting at the designated location.

Service availability is a general measure of the distribution of routes within a transit provider’s service area.

Fullington operates 11 separate fixed routes servicing destinations throughout Pennsylvania and New York while also maintaining interline relationships with numerous other intercity bus carriers which service communities Fullington does not service. Fullington works closely with the Pennsylvania department of transportation (PennDOT) to determine service availability and stop locations using such factors as safety, existing terminal locations, distance between established stops, ridership from specific locations along the fixed route, as well as total population density along the fixed route.

Vehicle assignment refers to the process by which transit vehicles are placed into service in depots and on routes throughout the transit provider’s system.

Transit vehicles will be assigned to routes based on ridership, type of route, and operating characteristics of buses, including bus length and turning radius.

Fullington will maintain its fleet and replace vehicles as required by FTA’s minimum service life policy. Distribution of vehicles throughout the fixed route system will not be based on age/condition but rather the needs for that particular route.

All buses are equipped with wheelchair lifts. In addition, all buses have air conditioning.

No person shall, on the grounds of race, color or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

All employees of Fullington are expected to consider, respect, and observe this policy. Customer questions or complaints shall be directed to Fullington’s Human Resources Department.